An Aretha Franklin Tribute Concert

I say farewell to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin,  who passed away on August 16.  We love  you Aretha.  Here's the Basement Blog tribute concert with some of her videos and hits.

"I Say a Little Prayer for You."  
  

"Respect."


"Think" From The Blues Brothers.  (1980)


"(You Make Me Feel Like)  A Natural Women."  From 2015 Kennedy Center ceremony honoring Carole King. Yeah, check Ms. King.  She loses it because Aretha is awesome.  We all lose it. Right, President Obama?


"Until You Come Back to Me."  This is my favorite Aretha song which was written by Stevie Wonder.


And we end with...

"Freeway of Love." 

Guilty Pleasures: Lovesick (1983)

There are a bunch of productions named Lovesick. This guilty pleasure is the 1983 film Lovesick. It's a romantic comedy about psychiatrist Saul Benjamin (Dudley Moore) who falls in love with his patient Chloe Allen. (Elizabeth McGovern) During the affair, Benjamin is visited by the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi... um make that the ghost of Freud. (Alec Guinness fresh off playing Kenobi in Return of the Jedi ) By the way, certain feelings for a patient or a patient's feelings for their psychoanalyst is known as transference. And Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. Anyway, look for early appearances of Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory, The Good Fight ) and David Strathairn. (Lincoln) The talented cast also includes legendary director John Huston, Ron Silver, Wallace Shawn and Alan King. Wow.

The film also features another great score by French composer Philippe Sarde. The music is lush, impressionistic in that French way, and just plain beautiful.  Mix that in with the gorgeous New York cinematography by Gerry Fisher, witty dialogue and you've got a warm romantic comedy. Lovesick, the 1983,  film is one of my guilty pleasures.

This trailer for Lovesick (1983) has some of Philippe Sarde's wonderful score.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Time to celebrate all things Irish. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's The Corrs with The Chieftains performing "I Know My Love."

Congratulations Alexandre Desplat

Yesterday, composer Alexandre Desplat won the Oscar for best score for his work on The Shape of Water. His music is a wonderful, beautiful fusion of jazz and French impressionism. It simply teleports you to another place and time for this bizarre but well told romantic tale. Congratulations Alexandre Desplat. Here's the piece Elisa's Theme from the film.

Happy Valentine's Day , Lindsey Vonn

So, Lindsey Vonn is tweeting from the Winter Olympics and inviting people to be her Valentine.

So apparently it’s Valentine’s Day....I forgot all about it because I’m at the #Olympics and I’m single. Anyone else out there single and want to be my valentine? 🤷🏼‍♀️ #worthashot

— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) February 14, 2018

Yes, Lindsey I want to be your Valentine. Sorry, I am not on Twitter. I just have some simple wishes for you. One. Good luck at the Olympics. And HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

How about some beautiful romantic jazz? Here's Eliane Elias with the sweet samba "So Nice."

My favorite John Williams Olympic theme

It's time for the Olympics, the Winter Olympics that is. And you will hear from NBC multiple themes previously written by famous film composer John Williams. He would write for four Olympic games. 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2002. (Variety) My favorite is the one for 1988 games called "The Olympic Spirit." Strong melody. Heroic. It's inspiring. Check it out below.

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!   Here's James Taylor with trumpet player Chris Botti doing a jazz version of "Winter Wonderland."  Enjoy.

Farewell Walter Becker

Walter Becker, co-founder of the jazz-rock band, Steely Dan has passed away. (Walter Becker wikipedia page) He played guitar and co-wrote the songs. This band was one of the groups that led me to love jazz. God speed Walter. Here's Steely Dan's song "Black Cow" from the album Aja. Becker is playing rhythm guitar to the left of lead singer Donald Fagen. I've always loved this sweet piece of jazz-funk.

Farewell , Jerry Lewis

On this day of comedian and humanitarian Jerry Lewis's passing, let me tell you something you may not have heard about. He was a teacher at one of the most prestigious film schools in America, The University of Southern California. His students were George Lucas, Randal Kleiser, Peter Bogdanovich, and Steven Spielberg. (Hollywood Reporter) Lewis was a pioneer with video playback on the set. (The Guardian) He was a giant in comedy, and film. He raised billions of dollars for a cure for muscular dystrophy. His legacy will be with us forever.

Jerry could also sing. As the character "Buddy Love" in the film The Nutty Professor (1963) he sings the jazz standard "That Old Black Magic".

Goodbye Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell passed away. God be with him. I grew up with his music. He was one of my first pop music loves. Let's honor him by posting some of his music from the periods I first heard his songs. I've also included a clip from the classic film True Grit (1969) where he saves John Wayne. There's a great line in that movie where his character while fighting death makes another heroic feat and says, "I ain't dead yet." Let's remember to live our lives and fight the obstacles like Glen did.

"Gentle On My Mind" with excellent Campbell solo.


"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Galveston."


"Wichita Lineman."


Classic scene from True Grit (1969) where John Wayne faces four bad guys with the help of Glen Campbell at the end. Great score by Elmer Bernstein also.

Trump in Paris and his misappropriation of Les Miserables.

Conservative President Donald Trump aka Dear Leader is in Paris to help celebrate Bastille Day. He's the guest of French President Emanuel Macron as France is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of American Troops to arrive for World War I. Trump has already embarrassed the United States by hitting on Macron's wife by stating how good shape she is in. I hope Americans there and liberal French give Trump a welcome with peaceful protests. Just remember my French friends, he's a climate change denier. I hear that French of good conscience are already planning to protest. NBC News. I say to our progressive French friends, "Dieu vous bénisse. "

While we're thinking about the French. I remember that during the campaign, Trump's team misappropriated Les Miserables. They used from that musical the song, "Do You Hear the People Sing." Totally wrong for the right-wing billionaire conservative Trump. The musical is about the Paris Uprising of 1832 where working people sought to rebel against the monarchy and establish a republic. It was a leftist revolt. L.A. Times. "Do You Hear the People Sing" is about the poor and downtrodden coming together to fight their oppressors. It is not about right-wing billionaires who plan to step on the backs of working people to become richer and more powerful.

My fellow liberals. We must reclaim this song, "Do You Hear The People Sing." Make sure those right-wingers hear our song. "It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again." We must fight against economic oppression. And tell that conservative, blonde hair, orange skin lunatic that we will not be economic slaves or slaves to his Russian masters.

One of the best opening credits of a movie

Opening tomorrow on May 5, 2017 is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). The movie is Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. I'm guessing the Volume 2 is a homage to those cassette tapes of old that are a second edition to a person's own recording of his favorite pop tunes of the seventies and eighties.

I remember the first Guardians. It had one of the best opening credit scenes of any film. In the movie we see Star-lord (Chris Pratt) start to dance to the hip song by Redbone called "Come and Get Your Love." I almost started to get up and dance. It's such a cool and happy tune. And Pratt's dancing may not make you forget Gene Kelly but it's joyous. It will put a smile on your face. Check it out. Come back and enjoy the bonus below. I've embedded Redbone performing their song.

My reintroduction to this song from Kool and the Gang

I was vaguely aware of this song. But when I played Grand Theft Auto, I believe it was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I got to know it again. The song was "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool and the Gang. You can dance to it at the club. Thank you Lentarian for posting this on Youtube.

Dance with Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine with the song "1-2-3"

Time to get happy and dance. Here's Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine with the song "1-2-3." Look at the hair of everybody in the video! Well, it is 1988.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here are the Corrs and The Chieftains with "I Know My Love."

Thanks La La Land for the Charlie Parker nod

In La La Land, dedicated jazz musician Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) wants his dream jazz club to serve chicken in honor of Charlie Parker. While I didn't hear any Parker in the movie, I did appreciate the film's love for jazz and the nods to Parker. Charlie Parker is the greatest musician of the twentieth century. And fear not La La Land fans. The movie might have lost Best Picture but will probably live on as a Broadway musical or at least as a fine example of the movie musical. To all jazz musicians and fans everywhere, here's to the "fools who dream." God love you.

How about some Charlie Parker in honor of the movie and Black History Month? Here's Parker with his masterpiece, "Confirmation."

Happy Valentine's Day

How about Redbone performing "Come and Get Your Love." Happy Valentine's Day sweetheart wherever you are.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY BENNETT!

Happy 90th Birthday Tony Bennett!!! Here he is singing "This Is All I Ask" last night on Stephen Colbert's Late Night show. And check out that actor "Moonlighting" as a stage hand wheeling in the birthday cake. Anyway, the song is appropriate. i love you Tony.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2016!

Let's celebrate St. Patrick's Day with The Chieftains and The Corrs. Here's the song, "I Know My Love."

Ariana Grande has great jazz chops!

I have no idea who Ariana Grande is. Hey, I'm no longer a young kid. But last night on Saturday Night Live, she did this wonderful song with a nice jazz feel. Anyway, she demonstrated great jazz chops. I mean she can sing jazz. Nice phrasing and she hit all the notes. Great stuff. Hey, Ariana cut a jazz album. Um, that's what they do nowadays? Do records still exist?